MaineBusiness.com

5 Ways to Track Your Online Spending for Maximum Results

Wouldn't it be great to know exactly which Web marketing campaigns were generating sales for you, instead of just site traffic?

If you could easily determine whether it was your blog, or organic search results at AOL, or a paid ad you took out on an email newsletter, that was getting the cash register to ring, would you be interested in finding that out?

Of course you would; if not, you'd be reading Catching Flies, Catching Fish. (And more power to you, BTW!)

By installing and utilizing a free copy of Google Analytics, you can. GA (Google Analytics) allows you to track your incoming links in a number of different ways, allowing you to quickly determine which campaigns are contributing to your bottom line. GA tracks campaigns using a combination of five marketing "dimensions":

1. Source: where the traffic comes from; i.e., Google, Yahoo, an email newsletter, another Web site.
2. Medium: qualifying the source; i.e., organic search results v. paid search placement.
3. Term: the word a person types into the search engine.
4. Content: the version of the ad. Best used in content a/b testing; i.e., which version of the ad a person clicked on.
5. Campaign: to qualify which campaign the link came from; i.e., "Hot Summer Specials"  v. "Back To School Specials."

In a completely unrelated aside, I'll be leading a Working Lunch Seminar entitled "Google Analytics for Online Success" this Wednesday from noon - 1:30 at flyte's offices in Portland, Maine.

Lunch in included, seating is limited, so register online now. (Or just learn more.)

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